User login

Molly Ivins, 1944-2007

"So keep fightin' for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin' ass and celebratin' the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was."

Please help

I saw a most interesting article last week, and I think all web site owners should be aware of it. Frankly, it's the most asinine thing I've seen in a long time, but it could get real serious, real fast.

"Should You Have to Pay to Link?" was about paying publications to LINK to their content just as if you were republishing it.

Seriously? Afraid so.

I'm linking to the article below. I'd sure be interested in what YOU think about it!

I wonder if it's time for us to look at ourselves and figure out who we are. We have been our jobs - our homes - our cars - our electronics. We have also been easily pushed around, led like sheep by our politicians to a downfall of our way of life.

Why? Maybe because we were too busy being involved with our jobs - our home - our cars - and our electronics. We weren't paying attention until it was too late!

I would like to suggest to online business owners (especially) it may be time to take stock. I sense a lot of confusion out there. Understandable.

Things have happened, the world over, and we've had little control. New situations tend to put us into a panic. The world's economy has affected most of our incomes.

Of course, then, we hear it'll get worse before it gets better! Scary stuff. So what do we do?

I suggest we buckle down and keep on keepin' on. It's the only logical, positive thing to do.

Many - dare I say most - online small business owners have other jobs. Or, did. Those jobs may now be gone. Not the time to give up online.

Rather than panic and decide they can't keep it up, these folks should be doubling (at least) their efforts online. Keep as much income flowing as possible. And, build!

We don't really need hundred thousand dollar remodels on our homes. We don't really need to drive luxury SUV gas hogs. We definitely don't need every new electronic device that comes down the pike - much less buy them for children!

What we do need is to remember what it's like to be human. We do need to wake up and pay attention to what brought us here. We need to get over ourselves and learn a little humility. We do need to pay more attention to our neighbors than to our "stuff."

We've been so involved in our "things," we've forgotten we're human beings. Stripped of our stuff, we have to learn to deal with ourselves - and others.

Although it may take a while (I honestly don't know) like everything else, this, too, will pass. Our lessons are to realize what brought us here and how we're going to handle it. Then, use those lessons to bring about more lasting change.

You know ... One of the things that helps people more than anything else is to help others who have it worse. It creates that attitude of gratitude that allows us to keep on going - and succeed!

So, don't give up on your business - no matter how much your income may be down. If all you have left is a trickle, take that trickle and make it work for you. Don't blow it off because it "isn't enough."

As I began writing this issue on Thursday, of course, the news was all about the passing of Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs. It is very sad to lose one of the people who have so changed our lives.

Although I didn't know him personally, Steve always struck me as a genuinely good person. He was amazingly brilliant - that brilliance bringing about incredible achievements. Yet, I don't remember any arrogance or power grabbing. It was always all about the creations.

Our industry couldn't have existed as it is without him, and we are poorer for his loss. So, we say good-bye to Steve Jobs with great gratitude and respect.

A Chamber member alerted me to a new product in the internet marketing field. This piece of software collects all the email addresses it picks up on each page of Google pulled by the email service you enter in the software.

Then, it saves those addresses so you can send all of them unrequested email - i.e., spam! This bozo is very careful to tell you on his video to be careful what you say in the email.

Nevertheless, he's selling a tool for spam!

On one page I found a link to aWeber's anti-spam page. He's obviously using them as his email service. I sent a message to aWeber alerting them to this situation since they have such strong anti-spam rules.

We'll see if aWeber does anything about it.

Meanwhile, as tempting as it may be to jump on this bandwagon, I seriously suggest you leave it alone. It isn't worth the problems it could cause you - right down to losing your main internet connection!